December 29, 2025 11:39

The European Commission has decided to intervene to support Europe’s plastics recycling industry, which is under severe strain due to both falling demand and growing competition from low-cost imports from Asia.
Given the urgency of the crisis, this set of initiatives anticipates some of the actions foreseen under the forthcoming Circular Economy Act, announced in August 2025.

Brussels will follow a two-step approach. The first consists of a package of short-term pilot measures designed to immediately support circularity, particularly in the plastics sector, while also encouraging broader innovation and investment.
In the second step, expected in 2026, the Commission will propose a comprehensive legislative framework — the Circular Economy Act — to introduce horizontal measures aimed at improving the functioning of the single market for secondary raw materials.

End-of-waste criteria for plastics. The first measure is an implementing act establishing EU-wide end-of-waste (EoW) criteria for plastics under the Waste Framework Directive. According to the Commission, this is a crucial step toward facilitating the use of recycled plastics in manufacturing, reducing administrative burdens for recyclers — especially SMEs — and securing a more stable supply of high-quality recyclates across the EU.
The absence of harmonized EoW criteria is estimated to cost the European plastics recycling industry around €120 million per year, or roughly €260,000 per recycler on average. The draft regulation is now open for public consultation until Jan. 26, 2026.

Green light for chemically recycled PET. The Commission is also presenting for member state vote an implementing act concerning recycled content in PET bottles, under the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD). The proposal allows chemically recycled plastics to count toward EU recycling targets — under certain conditions and in complement to mechanical recycling — by introducing the first rules for mass balance attribution of recycled feedstock.
A clearer regulatory framework, the Commission argues, should improve legal certainty and help unlock investments in chemical recycling across the EU.

Separate customs codes for recycled plastics. To strengthen monitoring of non-EU imports, the EU will introduce distinct customs codes for virgin and recycled plastics — a measure long requested by Italian industry players. These will improve transparency and facilitate enforcement by customs authorities and national surveillance bodies. Additional market monitoring efforts will be launched via the Import Surveillance Task Force and a new monitoring system for specific chemicals established in March 2025. These mechanisms could later form the basis for trade defense instruments aimed at ensuring fair competition between European and imported plastics. The Commission will review progress on these measures during 2026.

Circular Plastics Alliance rebooted. The Commission also plans to revamp and strengthen the Circular Plastics Alliance, first launched in 2018 under the European Strategy for Plastics. The platform will evolve into a structured, inclusive space for cooperation across the plastics value chain, enabling shared priorities and coordinated responses to the challenges facing the sector.

Incentives and investments. The Commission aims to step up financial support for circular projects, in collaboration with national banks and the European Investment Bank. It will support the Trans-Regional Circularity Hubs through the launch of a pilot Competitiveness Coordination Tool (CCT). These hubs will promote smart specialization and cross-border collaboration to scale up recycling technologies and circular practices.

SUP Directive under review. Also launched today is a public consultation and call for evidence to evaluate the impact of the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD). The objective is to assess how the directive has helped reduce the environmental and health impacts of certain plastic products, while promoting a more sustainable, circular economy. The consultation is open until March 17, 2026, to all interested stakeholders.

“Today we are proposing significant measures to support Europe’s plastics industry,” said Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice president for prosperity and industrial strategy. “This is doing well by doing good. By promoting the circular economy, we will not only create new business opportunities across Europe but also strengthen the single market for circular materials — with plastics as a key focus — and establish the right conditions for Europe’s first true secondary materials market.”

Attached: Full Communication from the European Commission

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